The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) educates more healthcare professionals than any other health-related institution in Texas. With a growing network of clinical and teaching hospitals, UTHealth needed to supplement its core human resources system with solutions to improve talent management and reduce manual processes. The institution implemented Oracle Human Capital Management Cloud to provide an easy-to-use system for employees, school administrators, the human resources department, and IT.

Just released - the latest issue of Oracle Magazine is focused on security and features two great case studies you will want to share with your customers. These two stories highlight how companies are reducing risk and at the same time mastering digital identity. "Businesses need identity management systems to provide a single point of access and control while reducing costs and improving operational efficiency. Learn how two organizations are turning to the Oracle Identity Management solution to enable growth and business transformation.

Stefan Hinker writes, "In this article, I will discuss the pros and cons of each of these options and give some recommendations for their use.

Root Domain SetupIn the case of physical IO, there are several options: Root Domains, DirectIO and SR-IOV. Let's start with SR-IOV. The most recent addition to the LDom IO options, it is by far the most flexible and the most sophisticated PCI virtualization option available. Please see the diagram on the right (from the Admin Guide) for an overview. First introduced for Ethernet adapters, Oracle today supports SR-IOV for Ethernet, Infiniband and Fibre Channel. Note that the exact features depend on the hardware capabilities and built-in support of the individual adapter. SR-IOV is not a feature of a server but rather a feature of an individual IO card in a server platform that supports it. Here are the advantages of this solution:.."

"Since many years, we project that the worldwide capacity in storage will continue to increase drastically. The data deluge is not going to stop. The tsunami is pushed even further with cloud storage, appetite for mobile devices, big data, Internet of Things and video (4K, surveillance).

On the other side, we don't see this year coming real disruptive storage technologies like SSDs few years ago and most recently all-flash arrays. But it could happen as innovations in the industry never stopped since decades.

It will be probably more a question in 2015 of continuing trends especially with the first letter 'S' in storage being extensively used in two main recent technologies: SSD (Solid-State Storage) - including SSD subsystems - and SDS (Software-Defined Storage)..."

"There are nine finalists in the data storage management tools category for the Storage magazine/SearchStorage.com 2014 Products of the Year competition. The majority of the entries are upgrades to existing products, though several are relatively new to the market. Only two of the products were finalists in 2013, one of which earned a bronze.

"Lustre is a high-performance open source file system that is particularly popular on storage platforms used in High Performance Computing (HPC) and Supercomputing environments. While it may not be on everyone's lips across the storage universe in general, it generated a lot of buzz at this month's SC14 Supercomputing conference in New Orleans.

Based upon Linux, it was originally designed, developed and maintained by Sun Microsystems (then Oracle) with input from many individuals and companies in the open source community..."

"In the shift toward Web-scale computing, key technologies such as virtualization, the move to x86 architecture and the rapid adoption of the DevOps methodology have transformed the IT ecosystem. As the volume of systems deployed in IT shops continues to increase, the next challenge will be orchestrating and managing compute, storage and network resources in the most efficient and effective manner, delivering services to what has become known as the private cloud..."

"The term 'software-defined storage,' like all new buzzwords, has many meanings, generates loads of media attention and creates even more market confusion. Falling into the categories of virtualization, orchestration and software-defined networking, SDS is ultimately about simpler storage management in highly virtualized data centers.

As organizations of all sizes accumulate storage arrays, it's no longer possible to talk about 'the SAN' because no one has just one storage area network anymore. Even in smaller data centers, it's common to find two or three generations of SAN technology, with multiple devices in each generation. This creates a management nightmare and impedes application deployment and migration..."

"For years, hardware had the upper hand in storage infrastructure, but now it looks as if software is finally drawing level

Revolutions are often thought of as events that occur overnight and change everything radically. But there are many more revolutions that go unnoticed as they slowly transform a market, a technological eco-system or a paradigm.

Look at the way that virtualisation has transformed the server market..."

The speaker for our January meeting will be Jim Wildman of Red Hat. Jim is a Field Engineer and a true FOSS evangelist. He was our guest speaker at the 2013 ITPalooza event where he gave an amazing talk. Please RSVP

"Televisions that can show pictures far superior to today's best high-definition video are making headlines and attracting crowds at this week's Consumer Electronics Show. When they come to market in the next few years, they will likely include a new connector as well - and require a new set of cables.

One proposal to replace HDMI is called Super MHL, backed by Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Nokia and chip-maker Silicon Image. It's aimed at 8K video, a new format not expected for several years that offers pictures with 16 times the resolution of today's best high-definition TV..."

"If you've been paying attention to the market for TVs over the last few months, and especially during CES this week, you've been hearing a lot about 4K and 8K. But the real action today, and going forward, is in quantum dots.

Known alternately as QDots or nanocrystals, quantum dots are the foundation behind what is expected to be one of the biggest sea changes in the television market over the next few years..."

"Over the past few years TV manufacturers have been incorporating a parade of new technologies with one goal in mind: getting customers into their local Best Buys to pick up a new television. 3D, 4K, curved screens; the list goes on, but ultimately these relatively iterative upgrades have failed to capture the public imagination.

Here at CES, Dolby is lining up TV and media partners in its own bid to get consumers excited again:..."

"CES is mostly focused on consumer-oriented products, but with the lines between consumer and business devices blurring nowadays, many of the coolest products at CES could be of great interest to enterprise IT folks. Here are some of the hottest new CES products that business professionals could get a kick out of..."

"A cable connector is an odd thing to get excited about, but when it's something as ubiquitous as USB you can perhaps forgive people for getting a little worked up.

The new Type-C connector has been making some appearances at the International CES this week, and it brings several improvements that are worth paying attention to if you're a USB user, which most people will be for some time yet, at least until everything goes wireless..."

"Intel has made its share of news at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, from new 14-nanometer Broadwell chips and demonstrations of its RealSense 3D technology to a tiny module for wearable devices and spending $300 million to bring more women and minorities into the fold.

Flying under the radar was the introduction of the company's upcoming Compute Stick, a thumb-drive-sized PC-on-a-stick device that comes preinstalled with either Microsoft's Windows 8.1 or Linux operating systems and armed with a quad-core Atom Z3735F 'Bay Trail' chip..."

Thor Olavsrud writes in CIO, "Over the past two decades, open development of technology has come to be seen as a key to driving innovation. Even companies that once saw open source as a threat have come around - Microsoft, for example, is now active in a number of open source initiatives. To date, most open development has focused on software. But even that is changing as communities have begun to coalesce around open hardware initiatives. Here are seven organizations that are successfully promoting and developing open technologies, both hardware and software..."

"The combined excitement over the currency and the Blockchain has kept the market capitalization above $4 billion for more than a year. This has attracted both imitators and innovators.

Bill Gates called Bitcoin a 'technological tour de force.' Enthusiasts believe it will become a more viable form of money and may even replace fiat currencies like the US dollar. Detractors point out that many bitcoin exchanges like Mt. Gox have been hacked, and bitcoin can be stolen from computer-based wallets if its proprietors are not careful. To be fair, one must point out that many sensationalist news articles have mistaken these third-party exchange problems for flaws with bitcoin..."

"Bitcoin made its presence known at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week in the face of heightened speculation about recent controversies in the industry.

In the days leading up to one of the most high-profile conventions in the tech industry, bitcoin's price fell below $300 and one of the digital currency's biggest exchanges, Bitstamp, suffered a security breach that resulted in the theft of some 19,000 BTC.

Nonetheless, companies in the industry came together at CES with a resilience like that of the technology they work with, and bitcoin commanded attention from attendees consistently over the four-day span of the event..."

"CoinDesk is pleased to announce the latest quarterly State of Bitcoin report, featuring a 2014 Year in Review, an in-depth analysis of data and events from the fourth quarter of 2014 and a look ahead to what 2015 might bring.

"Oracle Solaris Kernel Zones, available as of Oracle Solaris 11.2, are the newest type of Oracle Solaris Zone. Kernel zones provide all the flexibility, scalability, and efficiency of Oracle Solaris Zones while adding the capability to have zones that have independent kernels. This capability is highly useful when you are trying to coordinate the updating of multiple zone environments that belong to different owners.

With kernel zones, the updates can be done at the level of an individual kernel zone at a time that is convenient for each owner. In addition, applications that have specific version requirements can run side by side on the same system and benefit from the high consolidation ratios that Oracle Solaris Zones provide.

This article discusses general best practices for deploying kernel zones..."

Hot off the press - the popular MySQL Performance Tuning training course has just got even better thanks to Oracle's MySQL support and engineering experts sharing their years of experience. This much improved course is currently being released, bringing you more real-life hands-on experience as well as hints and tips from the people with the most knowledge on tuning MySQL performance.

The MySQL Performance Tuning course teaches you how to tune MySQL for optimal performance. You will learn best practices for configuring, monitoring and troubleshooting your server, databases and queries using a range of tools.

Larry Dignan writes, "Oracle appears to be winning the cloud ground wars as IT buyer perception appears to be shifting its way, according to a Piper Jaffray survey of CIOs.

Piper Jaffray's 2015 CIO report had 71 respondents and found that spending priorities are shifting toward cloud computing. For instance, 97 percent of CIOs plan to increase or maintain spending on cloud related projects. For on-premise deployments, 80 percent of CIOs would maintain or increase spending. Twenty percent of CIOs said they would cut on-premise spending..."

"Linux has zillions of different applications available in various categories. But it's not always easy to separate the wheat from the chaff. A writer at MakeUseOf has come up with a helpful list of what he thinks are some of the best applications for Linux. I've included the basic list below but click through to the article for descriptions of each application as well as screenshots..."

"We are pleased to announce the availability of Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3 Quarterly Update 4 (UEKR3U4) for Oracle Linux 6 and Oracle Linux 7. This is the fourth quarterly update release for UEK Release 3 (Version 3.8.13-55) and includes driver updates and a consolidation of fixes for bugs and security issues.

"Determining which public cloud platforms your company should standardize on is not a matter of market share, size or growth rate. What matters most is fit for purpose - yours. And that's exactly what our latest Forrester Wave of this market helps you determine.
And the key questions to ask have nothing to do with the vendors in question. They are all about you - your team's skill sets, needs and requirements. Will you mostly be building lightweight web and mobile applications from common web services you'd rather not recreate yourself? ..."

"Like any 'big data' initiative, deploying and operating a data warehouse of any size used to be limited to only large enterprises with deep budgets for proprietary hardware and multi-year software licenses. Pay-as-you-go cloud products like Google's BigQuery and Amazon Redshift change all of that, putting a fully blown, fully managed data warehouse within reach of even the smallest business. This article addresses what Amazon Redshift is (and is not).

Perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes of the public cloud was addressing the shortcomings of traditional enterprise data warehouse (EDW) storage and processing..."

"Moving workloads to the cloud is a process fraught with potential pitfalls. Here are some best-practices to streamline your cloud migration.

The challenges associated with moving from a physical or a hybrid environment to the cloud can be complex, involving everything from technical obstacles to logistical and financial complications. Navigating this process requires in-depth preparation and planning. IT professionals who operate in this space should be familiar with the accepted best-practices for migrating workloads, data, and applications from traditional hosting environments to the cloud..."

"In 2014 the 'Cloud' gained some valuable traction with mature product offerings as well as clarity in service expectation and pricing models emerging. We also saw the rise of the 'Internet of Things', but some degree of misunderstanding and media hype exists and will continue to exist well into 2015. Firstly, what is 'The Internet of Things' (IOT) and secondly, how can the cloud benefit?..."

"When it comes to cloud strategizing for banks, concerns about security
tend to overshadow some equally large factors.
Security is definitely one of the Big Five - in fact it's probably first among equals. But there are four other top priorities as well:..."

"The Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and cyber security dominated the IT agenda in 2014 and their ascendancy is only likely to grow in 2015 - but what else will capture the attention of CIOs?

The technology industry is set to experience fascinating shifts over the coming 12 months - and staying ahead of the curve will, as always, separate the winners from the losers.

OC&C Strategy's Ewan Parry gets under the skin of CIOs, exploring the opportunities and threats at the forefront of their minds..."

"This year brought the IT outsourcing industry an increase in hybrid offshoring, a greater focus on in-house service integration, a new lower-cost consulting model, smaller deals, and bigger governance requirements.

CIO.com again asked outsourcing observers to peer into their crystal balls. And if they're right, 2015 could be the year IT outsourcing gets business-focused, customers embrace standardization, sourcing decisions become fact-based, and the age-old RFP process gets some real competition..."

"High-profile data breaches at well-known companies such as Home Depot, Staples and Sony have shined a bright spotlight on data security, or the lack of it. But these breaches have also raised an alarm within these public companies and other organizations. Many more companies, including big IT service providers, have elevated the job of IT security to the C-level, a highly visible response to what is now a highly visible issue..."

"I have been covering technology companies and their practices for 20 years and also been involved in internal audit at IBM, so I've learned to recognize red flags. There are a number of practices that can showcase problems that should cause you to look more closely at a vendor and reassess the risk of using them.

Here are three indicators that a vendor is not what it seems and why you should consider them warning signs..."

"The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) surveyed more than 200 IT and security professionals, and nearly 72 percent admitted that they did not know the number of shadow IT apps within their organization, but certainly want to. Decisions concerning the security of data in the cloud has shifted from the IT room to the boardroom, with 61 percent of companies indicating that executives are now involved in such decisions..."

"Years ago, when he was asked whether Web services were going to be the 'next big thing,' Oracle co-founder and then-CEO Larry Ellison responded: 'I've spent too much time in Italy to know that you shouldn't ignore fashion.' In tech, we like nothing better than a new trend, because they become new products - and eventually new income streams - for enterprises.

We also know that fashion matters, so we've learned that it's generally best to get on board with it - or at least become familiar with fashionable trends - if at all possible. In the IT industry, we also like to look ahead, based on what we experienced in the past, to anticipate what important trends are coming..."

"2014 was a year of high-profile hacks for businesses around the world. From The Home Depot breach to the recent Sony data leak, it seemed like as soon as one data breach was under control, another one came to light.

This unfortunate trend wasn't limited to large corporations, and many breaches eluded front page news but still affected businesses around the world. Small to medium enterprises certainly aren't immune from data breaches: web platforms also faced malware attacks this year, like the SoakSoak malware that hit WordPress sites, the attack on Drupal and the CryptoPHP backdoor that targeted HTML-based sites like Joomla..."

"Our 14th annual State of the CIO research, based on a survey of 558 IT chiefs, shows that compensation is up, but the job is super-challenging and business expectations are high. CIOs continue to struggle with balancing the need for innovation with the need to keep IT operations humming along efficiently and securely. Some CIOs are perceived as business leaders, or at least partners. But, candidly, some CIOs are falling short, as some business colleagues still see IT as an obstacle to business success..."

"I would offer that, in our ardor to discover yet another algorithm or create yet another complex software suite to counter the malicious insider or, almost as dangerous, the persistent state-sponsored threat, we are missing the best, and ironically the least-expensive method to mitigate these threats.

"Around two-thirds of CIOs say they are prepared to pay more for the skills required to make the most of SDx solutions, according to Logicalis.

IT leaders see software-defined solutions (SDx) as a vital component in a broader service-defined enterprise IT transformation, something many IT organizations are undergoing now, according to a survey of 177 chief information officers (CIOs) and IT directors from Logicalis.

The survey indicated investing in software-defined solutions will require CIOs to recruit a new breed of business-oriented IT professional who can translate business needs into policy frameworks that can support extensive IT automation -- a fundamental shift in the skill sets previously sought when hiring IT staff..."

Bring your sense of humor and get ready for some great IT and virtualization conversations with some of the best people in South Florida's IT community. Please encourage to IT friends and colleagues to attend!

Join us for vBeers @ Boca. We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month in Boca Raton, FL. The next meeting will be at Biergarten Boca, which is located in on US 1, just South of Palmetto Park and East of I-95.

"As the economy continues to climb out of recession, demand for project management professionals has skyrocketed. Finding the right project management talent for mission-critical IT projects can be difficult, as the role requires a unique mix of technical and soft skills.

In addition to the usual suspects -- attention to detail, focus on process, time management and capability to multitask, for instance -- there are some less obvious, but equally crucial, skills that separate the good from the great. Here, our experts weigh in on what to look for when hiring IT project managers..."

"Vendors developing products in the broad and fast-growing area of Internet-connected devices need to embrace security by design and adopt meaningful policies to limit data collection and provide users with meaningful notice and choices about how their information is used, according to the nation's top consumer protection regulator.

In remarks at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez touted the potential of the so-called Internet of things -- encompassing wearable health monitors, networked household appliances and everything in between -- but cautioned that those devices can pose a threat to consumer privacy if manufacturers and service providers don't include adequate protections..."

"Modern data centers use open and green tech to respond faster to customer needs while cutting 40% of electricity use.

We've become accustomed to watching the rapid evolution of components that go into networking, computing, and storage. Advances in components and much more helped data centers become one of the fastest-evolving areas in 2014.

Power supply and distribution, cooling, and new cloud-oriented server design for data centers have all contributed to the advances..."

"The data center today looks very different than it did just 10 years ago. Massive shifts in how companies conduct business have increased the importance of applications, IT and the data center, and as a result the pace of change inside data centers has massively increased. New trends are causing organizations to maintain more data centers across varying geographical locations.

In the past, companies managed data center infrastructure and the processes surrounding those resources using spreadsheets. This approach, albeit cheap and easy, was a stopgap for using a real enterprise management platform. It is to fill this need that data center infrastructure management (DCIM) materialized..."

"I try to avoid doing new year industry predictions. In order to get any prediction mindshare, I have to wade pretty far out into the crazy water ('Paper currency is over!' or 'This will be the year robots destroy all life!'), and the wetter I get, the less likely I am to be right. But there's one trend from 2014 that is too important not to discuss: massive infrastructure security vulnerabilities..."

"This past year, IT pros matched their plans with business objectives and integrated cloud architectures and did everything for the sake of the application.

We asked industry experts, leaders and IT professionals what they expect to see shape and take over the data center field in 2015. Flash storage, DevOps, new infrastructure possibilities in the data center and the rise of open source enterprise options topped the list..."

"CSO Online recently spoke to a person working in the security field with a rather unique job. He's paid to break into places, such as banks and research facilities (both private and government), in order to test their resistance to social engineering and physical attacks.

Rarely is he caught, but even when he is it doesn't matter, and the reason for his success is the same in each case - human nature..."

"We've just left the 'year of the data breach' behind us and cybersecurity has never been more top of mind. Highlights from the past year include the news that a Russian cybercriminal gang stole 1.2 billion usernames and passwords from 420,000 websites by exploiting SQL injection vulnerabilities in web applications; the intrusion into JP Morgan Chase's network and the third-party website that manages its charity race; and now the unrelenting drama that has been the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment's infrastructure..."

"Akamai today released its latest State of the Internet report, which provides insight into key global statistics such as connection speeds and broadband adoption across fixed and mobile networks, overall attack traffic, global 4K readiness, and IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 implementation..."

"We've all heard about Big Data and security analytics as solutions to a variety of information security problems. This book explains what they are, how they work, and the value they can bring to businesses..."

"Most malicious computer attacks leave telltale evidence in the victim's security event logs. The Verizon Data Breach Investigation Reports have been bringing word on this for many years.

My favorite quote is from the 2008 DBIR, which says, 'In 82 percent of cases ... the victim possessed the ability to discover the breach had they been more diligent in monitoring and analyzing event-related information available to them at the time of the incident'..."

"As we predicted around this time last year, 2014 has seen more high-profile targeted attacks with motivations of stealing information, making a statement and permanently destroying sensitive/valuable data. As predicted we also saw an increase in large cloud-based attacks, such as the iCloud breach. The following are some areas of trends we expect to see in 2015..."

"All nations are not created equal and, like individual hackers, each has a different motivation and capability.

We know that hackers hack for a variety of reasons. Some hack because they are greedy or have criminal motives. Some hack to satisfy their egos or gain peer recognition. Some hack alone, and some hack in groups. But many hackers, or more accurately 'hacktivists,' join groups like Anonymous in order to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with powerful organizations such as corporations and governments who fail to share their world views..."

"Skilled job seekers are in an enviable position in the simmering tech industry, as hiring managers compete for talent, boost job offers, and improve on-the-job perks to keep existing employees from looking elsewhere.

'It's really the technologists' choice right now. They can be very picky,. says Jack Cullen, president of IT staffing and recruiting firm Modis..."

"'Authenticity' is the latest buzzword in business, often considered the golden ticket to effective leadership.

It's hard to deny its appeal. Who wouldn't want to bring their whole, true self to work, lead by radical transparency, say what they mean, and mean what they say?

Don't be fooled by the marketing, warns Herminia Ibarra, a professor at business school INSEAD in Paris and author of new book 'Act Like A Leader, Think Like A Leader.' There is such a thing as being too honest, and the line can be perilously thin..."

"Everyone wants to stand out in job interviews - but it should be for the right reasons.

According to a new survey from OfficeTeam, a staffing service specializing in the placement of highly skilled administrative professionals, some job applicants are most memorable for making silly mistakes.

OfficeTeam asked more than 600 senior managers in the US and Canada to recount the most embarrassing job-interview blunders they have heard of or been witness to.

"Adhering to a rigid list of New Year's resolutions has never been my forte. But looking towards a new year, I will focus on seven Cs and hope you will find them useful for a prosperous and fulfilling year ahead..."

"It seems like every year brings new best practices and strategies in the area of deliverability. The Act-On Deliverability Team wants to make sure you're a step ahead of the competition and on top of the latest advances. We've identified what we think will be the three major deliverability trends of 2015 - take a look, and find out how to make sure every email message gets delivered..."

Darren writes, "With the 2013.1.3.0 (aka OS8.3) release of the software for the Oracle ZFS Storage Appliance the underlying ZFS encryption functionality is now available for use. This is the same ZFS encryption that is available in general purpose Solaris but with appliance interfaces added for key management.

I originally wrote the following quick start guide for our internal test engineers and other developers while were developing the functionality and since the functionality is now available I thought I'd share it here..."

"The three fastest growing databases of 2014 were all open source, according to a new report from DB-Engines, a site that tracks popularity in the rapidly changing database marketplace.

The ever popular new-age database MongoDB topped the list again this year, with Redis, a tool for managing data, and Elasticsearch, which provides the foundations for building your own search engine, as runners up..."

"The 10 finalists in the data backup hardware category for the Storage magazine/SearchStorage.com 2014 Products of the Year award offer competitive, feature-rich data protection products. Offerings range from a Dell appliance integrated with AppAssure software to Oracle's ZFS-based system optimized for Oracle databases. Many of this year's systems are primed for on-premises storage, the cloud, and physical and virtual environments; however, mature technologies such a disk-to-disk (D2D) backup and support for virtual tape libraries also make an appearance.

"Prominent data scientists Hilary Mason and DJ Patil know a good bit about the trendy practice that combines statistics, programming, and communication. In an ebook out this week, the two spell out some of the common elements of the most helpful technologies for actually doing the work of a data scientist.

For those seeking to expand their capabilities and add 'data scientist' to their LinkedIn profiles, the information, contained in Data Driven: Creating a Data Culture from O'Reilly Media, is worth a look. It should also be useful for entrepreneurs building technology specifically directed at data scientists..."

"Every year, IBM interviews thousands of C-suite executives from across the globe to learn what they're focused on and what's helping them succeed. If you're looking for insights into enterprise comings and goings, this series of reports is essential reading.

Lately, though, the C-suite is telling a single story.

Everyone's talking about big data, business intelligence and the value it brings to business. Makes sense given IBM's corporate goals. But a funny thing happened on the way to the data warehouse: Most of us got distracted.

Big data has simply become big confusion, with seemingly all but a few top-performing executives struggling to make data and analytics work in the way they've been promised it would.

When you look at executive-level surveys on the topic, it's easy to see why. Some stats to consider:..."

"Companies are moving from business intelligence standardization to experimentation, data-quality concerns are easing a bit, and cloud-based, real-time, and big-data platforms are on the rise.

These are among the findings of our 2015 InformationWeek Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Information Management Survey, published late last month based on responses from 384 business technology professionals..."

"Benjamin Franklin had it right when he said an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Knowledge derived from big data has helped us accurately understand everything from the weather to traffic. In the process, big data analysis has touched many aspects of our lives, such as how medical treatments are prescribed. Not all big data projects are created equal, though. According to a recent report, speed is a key factor in the success of any analytics initiative..."

"Even in the era of machines every company is looking at employee productivity and efficiency. With improvements in technology, we have seen drastic changes in the output that workers are able to deliver. Without a doubt technology is a facilitator of this reduced cost and high efficiency.

Wearables are next in line. Today while still in its baby steps, wearables are changing the workplace for good. There are innumerable applications where these wearables will be of use. Here are certain segments that will see definite changes. But nobody is stopping you from innovating new places where they can be used! Indeed, remember all those sci-fi movies with the cool gadgets? Well, they are close to reality now!..."

But, by subjecting myself to a torrent of trackers, Android wrist computers, and even a smart sweatband, I came to a few conclusions that you might find helpful - if you're buying a wearable, or if you get a kick out of gadget-watching...

"The explosion of 'smart' devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) or, as some are now putting it, the Internet of Everything (IoE), is bringing unprecedented convenience to consumers. But, as is the case with anything connected to the Internet, it also brings risks. And with the number of devices expected to hit 50 billion or more in just a few years, the level of risk will also be unprecedented..."

"We use our phones for a lot of things these days, but our app choices change year to year. New data from Flurry says that over the last year, our biggest change in use has been to spend more time with shopping and work apps.

Overall, mobile activity increased 76 percent this year from last year, according to Flurry's data. And while mobile messaging saw over 100 percent growth, the real star was mobile shopping, which grew 174 percent year-over-year on both iOS and Android...."

"Why are consumers still reluctant to adopt mobile payments? Security concerns are the number one roadblock. The ongoing litany of high-profile retailers whose customer data has been stolen strikes fear into the hearts of consumers, who are then unlikely to wholeheartedly place their trust in mobile payment technology.

Yet trust is exactly what's needed in order for the technology to experience widespread adoption. The EMV (EuroPay, Mastercard, Visa) card has been developed with a secure microchip for transmitting data, but it is a physical asset. The trick is to create a parallel level of security in the virtual world..."

"In every NetBeans release it provides out-of-the-box tools that leverage the java standards and other tools toward the web standards, alongside great popular market tools that increases developer daily productivity.

NetBeans editor analyzes code to work efficiently with great tips and refactoring templates for more clear and cleaner code, provides migration from other JDKs toward Java 8, and it works for Java SE 8, Java SE Embedded 8, and Java ME Embedded 8..."

Ben Rossi writes in Information Age,
"Revolutions are often thought of as events that occur overnight and change everything radically. But there are many more revolutions that go unnoticed as they slowly transform a market, a technological eco-system or a paradigm.

Look at the way that virtualisation has transformed the server market. VMware, a software company, overcame a number of obstacles, the biggest ones being initial performance and scaling limitations. Today, however, virtualisation is the fundamental building block for all cloud infrastructures, private, public and hybrid.

Similar transformations are taking place at different levels in the data centre today but no area has been talked about more than storage..."

Level 3 Communications announced that it was honored with the MEF Ethernet Excellence Awards in four categories. The MEF Ethernet Excellence Awards recognize services, technology, professional excellence and innovation in the worldwide Carrier Ethernet community.

These awards are presented annually to companies servicing North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and in the Caribbean and Latin America region, and are determined by a judging panel comprised of global and regional senior analysts from IDC, Infonetics, Vertical Systems, Gartner, Frost & Sullivan, Ovum, the Rayno Report and independent judges...